The stays came from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Court of Appeals.

“I think we were within about a half hour of the execution,” said Brian Kammer, an attorney for Hill, whose supporters say is mentally disabled.

The Georgia Court of Appeals acted on a appeal of a challenge to the way the prison handles the lethal injection drugs used in executions, while the federal appeals court issued a stay “ordering a further briefing on the issue of mental retardation,” Kammer said.